WEBVTT - Tech News: Internet Down

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host,

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<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio

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<v Speaker 1>and I love all things tech. First of all, of

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<v Speaker 1>this episode sounds at all different. It's Tori's fault. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>in the studio today, but I'm using my normal microphone

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<v Speaker 1>for home recording. But it may mean that it sounds

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<v Speaker 1>a little different. Tarry, by the way, is also here.

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<v Speaker 1>She's um She's waving and blowing kisses to all of

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<v Speaker 1>you because she loves you so much. That might not

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<v Speaker 1>be true, but there are definitely some hand gestures. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>let's get to the tech news for Thursday, July twenty two,

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand, twenty one. Earlier today, you might have had

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<v Speaker 1>some problems using certain websites or web based services. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>Delta Airlines customers found they couldn't use online check in

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<v Speaker 1>for a while. Amazon customers were having trouble connecting to

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<v Speaker 1>that site. Gamers saw the PlayStation network and Steam were

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<v Speaker 1>down as well. So what the heck happened? Well, it

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<v Speaker 1>appears that fault lies with part of acamize system. Now

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<v Speaker 1>acam I is a c d N. Also, I could

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<v Speaker 1>be mispronouncing it. It's a K A m AI, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's a c d N that's a content delivery network.

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<v Speaker 1>So as that name implies a com I is in

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<v Speaker 1>the business of facilitating the movement of data across networks

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<v Speaker 1>to customers. C d n's address an issue that we

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<v Speaker 1>just can't otherwise get around, and that's the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>the further you are away from a computer like a server.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's say that you're trying to connect to a specific website. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>the further away you are from that that server, the

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<v Speaker 1>longer it's going to take for signals to pass between

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<v Speaker 1>you and that server. And if the service you're trying

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<v Speaker 1>to access is one that requires fast response, like maybe

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<v Speaker 1>it's a streaming video game or something, that could be

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<v Speaker 1>a problem. So if you want to access a specific

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<v Speaker 1>companies services and that company happens to be located in

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<v Speaker 1>Washington State, but you live in the state of Florida,

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<v Speaker 1>which is all the way on the opposite side of

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<v Speaker 1>you know, America, then you might have some delays. If

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<v Speaker 1>your computer and the company's servers had to communicate across

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<v Speaker 1>the entire country, you'd run into lag and that's where

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<v Speaker 1>c d ends come in. They are essentially huge server

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<v Speaker 1>farms located in specific geographic areas, and they function as

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<v Speaker 1>a faster way to deliver Internet content. They're kind of

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<v Speaker 1>like um mirrors of existing content. So instead of having

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<v Speaker 1>to transmit you know, that episode of Modern Love across

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<v Speaker 1>the entire United States, a c d N with the

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<v Speaker 1>Modern Love content can step in closer to home. C

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<v Speaker 1>d n s can also provide other services. They can

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<v Speaker 1>act as a layer of protection against malicious attacks from hackers,

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<v Speaker 1>liked DOS attacks, distributed denial of service attacks, and most

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<v Speaker 1>of the time everything's just working fine and people are

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<v Speaker 1>able to access services like Netflix or PlayStation games or

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<v Speaker 1>whatever without a problem. But sometimes stuff goes wrong, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's what happened today. Akama says that it was an

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<v Speaker 1>emerging issue with its Edge DNS service, but as I'm

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<v Speaker 1>recording this, it appears that the company's engineers have resolved

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<v Speaker 1>the problem. It's just a reminder that there's always a

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<v Speaker 1>point of failure in a given system, and sometimes that

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<v Speaker 1>point of failure can be one that affects a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of other systems. However, I have to take my hat

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<v Speaker 1>off to those engineers who fix the problem relatively quickly.

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<v Speaker 1>That's really impressive. You know, it really stinks when these

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<v Speaker 1>things happen, but it's it's incredible to see how quickly

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<v Speaker 1>people can respond and get things back on track, because

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, that's a big issue. Now. In an early episode,

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<v Speaker 1>I mentioned that President Biden here in the United States

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<v Speaker 1>issued an executive order that urged the Federal Trade Commission,

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<v Speaker 1>or FTC, to look into the issue of the right

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<v Speaker 1>to repair. Just in case you're not familiar with that term,

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<v Speaker 1>that refers to stripping away the layers that companies will

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<v Speaker 1>put in place that can discourage or outright prevent users

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<v Speaker 1>from making their own repairs or going to an independent

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<v Speaker 1>repair service, and instead they might put in layers that

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<v Speaker 1>force those users to go to a corporate approved service company.

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<v Speaker 1>And this can apply to everything from basic consumer electronics

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<v Speaker 1>all the way up to things like giant tractors for agriculture.

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<v Speaker 1>And this is a really big deal for people who

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<v Speaker 1>either don't want to be tied down to a specific

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<v Speaker 1>ecosystem or those who might not have easy access to

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<v Speaker 1>corporate approved services or both. The FTC now says that

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<v Speaker 1>the organization will step up law enforcement actions against companies

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<v Speaker 1>that are engaged in quote illegal repair restrictions end quote.

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<v Speaker 1>According to the site x d A. Now what constitutes

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<v Speaker 1>illegal repair restrictions, Well, if it's part of an anti

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<v Speaker 1>competitive strategy, it could violate the Sherman Act that deals

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<v Speaker 1>with the issues of monopolies and anti competitiveness. And there

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<v Speaker 1>are other laws that can play a role as well,

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<v Speaker 1>And I may have to do a full episode about

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<v Speaker 1>that at some point, because frankly, I am not that

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<v Speaker 1>well read up on these laws, because let's get real,

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<v Speaker 1>until really recently, no one was looking into enforcing those laws,

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<v Speaker 1>so they weren't really playing a part. But I think

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<v Speaker 1>that this is really encouraging. As the FDC points out,

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<v Speaker 1>the denial of the right to repair leads to a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of wastefulness, uh, And that can go from anything

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<v Speaker 1>from the amount of time it takes for you to

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<v Speaker 1>actually go to a company approved maintenance area to just

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<v Speaker 1>throwing something away and buying a new one because you

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<v Speaker 1>can't be bothered to take it to get repaired. None

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<v Speaker 1>of those are really good things, So I think this

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<v Speaker 1>might be a good move in general. In a different

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<v Speaker 1>earlier episode, I talked a bit about the backlash against

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<v Speaker 1>audacity that's the free to download audio recording and editing

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<v Speaker 1>software that folks like yours truly use when recording podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>from home. It's what I'm actually using right now instead

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<v Speaker 1>of using our studios recording system because Tari won't let

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<v Speaker 1>me do that anyway. Uh oh, look she's blowing more kisses.

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<v Speaker 1>She's just so loving to a all right, anyway. A

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<v Speaker 1>while back, there was this company called Muse or the

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<v Speaker 1>Muse Group now that acquired Audacity and then released a

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<v Speaker 1>version with some new privacy policies that raised a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of eyebrows because those policies included data collection, uh policies

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<v Speaker 1>and meaning data collected from users, and we're talking about

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of data that could potentially be used with

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<v Speaker 1>conjunction with with law enforcement. So it raised a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of big questions about privacy and legality, and it led

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<v Speaker 1>to a backlash in which some Audacity users were proposing

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<v Speaker 1>that they develop a forked version of Audacity, to go

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<v Speaker 1>back to an earlier version of Audacity and develop for

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<v Speaker 1>that as an independent program in order to avoid the

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<v Speaker 1>issues that they were seeing based on this updated privacy

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<v Speaker 1>policy from the quote unquote real Audacity. That is not

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<v Speaker 1>a great thing for the new owners to hear. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>if customers are saying they're gonna go and make their

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<v Speaker 1>own version of your product just to avoid your policies,

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<v Speaker 1>that's tough. Now Audacity has a new new privacy policy

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<v Speaker 1>and it removes the sections that were causing the concern.

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<v Speaker 1>So in a message to users, Audacity said the following

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<v Speaker 1>quote phrasing has been adjusted to remove ambiguity or aid

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<v Speaker 1>in transparency, in particular that we do not collect any

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<v Speaker 1>additional information for law enforcement or any other purpose. We

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<v Speaker 1>have explained the purpose of the two networking features, error

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<v Speaker 1>reporting and update checking. We have removed the provision that

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<v Speaker 1>discourages children under thirteen years old from using Audacity. We

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<v Speaker 1>have taken steps to ensure that we never store a

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<v Speaker 1>full IP address we now truncated before hashing or discarded entirely,

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<v Speaker 1>and have reflected this change in the privacy policy document.

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<v Speaker 1>We have made some changes to how we process error

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<v Speaker 1>reports to ensure that we never store any potentially identifiable information. Further,

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<v Speaker 1>they explained that any version of Audacity from three point

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<v Speaker 1>zero point two or earlier has no networking capability at all,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning there's no way for the company to collect any

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<v Speaker 1>data from people who are using those versions of audacity.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether all this is going to be enough to calm

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<v Speaker 1>the critics remains to be seen, but it feels like

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<v Speaker 1>it's at least the right thing to do. We've got

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<v Speaker 1>some more news to report on, but before I get

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<v Speaker 1>to that, let's take a quick break. We're back. The

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<v Speaker 1>state of California has filed a lawsuit against the video

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<v Speaker 1>game developer and publisher Activision Blizzard, alleging that the company

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<v Speaker 1>has a culture of harassment that makes the company a

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<v Speaker 1>hostile work environment, particularly for women. In fact, the lawsuit

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<v Speaker 1>alleges that there is a quote pervasive frat boy end

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<v Speaker 1>quote culture there, and y'all, that phrasing definitely conjures up

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<v Speaker 1>some negative images in my mind. But then you have

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<v Speaker 1>to understand I went to college at the University of

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<v Speaker 1>Georgia in the mid to late nineties, and the frats

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<v Speaker 1>there were literally the worst. Like they made the news,

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<v Speaker 1>that's how bad they were. Anyway, The allegations include lots

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<v Speaker 1>of really despicable charges, everything from women being groped and

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<v Speaker 1>otherwise assaulted, to women receiving far less pay for doing

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<v Speaker 1>the same jobs as men, to one case where apparently

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<v Speaker 1>an executive reportedly delegated his work to a female direct

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<v Speaker 1>report so that he could play call of duty. Gross.

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<v Speaker 1>Now I should add that the company says these charges

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<v Speaker 1>are actually relating to the past, and that the Activision

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<v Speaker 1>Blizzard company of today does not reflect this image. In

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<v Speaker 1>other words, they're saying, yeah, things used to be bad,

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<v Speaker 1>but we have taken great strides to fix them, and

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<v Speaker 1>we take this seriously. In fact, the company representatives have

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<v Speaker 1>said that every charge is taken seriously and the company

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<v Speaker 1>has made substantive moves to really change corporate culture. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>I am sure that a more complete story will come

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<v Speaker 1>out in court, assuming that this actually goes that far,

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<v Speaker 1>and maybe we will hear whether or not the representatives

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<v Speaker 1>are accurate right whether or not this this toxic culture

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<v Speaker 1>still exists. It appears to at least have existed. But

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<v Speaker 1>the question is is that how things are now. I

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<v Speaker 1>honestly don't know what to believe. I don't know anyone

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<v Speaker 1>at that company, so I have no idea if it

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<v Speaker 1>has changed significantly or if it's still a hostile work environment.

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<v Speaker 1>But I will keep an eye on this story as

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<v Speaker 1>it develops. One technology that tends to come up and

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<v Speaker 1>conversation about the future is weather control. I mean, I

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<v Speaker 1>know that Cobra Commander was really obsessed with it. But

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<v Speaker 1>when we get to the realities of tech and the weather,

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<v Speaker 1>our understanding of how we can affect whether it gets

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit wibbly wobbly. For years, people have attempted

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<v Speaker 1>to seed clouds to induce rain over drought, and the

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<v Speaker 1>question then pops up does that actually work? Which is

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<v Speaker 1>actually kind of hard to say because it's difficult to

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<v Speaker 1>test these things because it either rains or it doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>rain after you seed the clouds. And if it does rain,

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<v Speaker 1>then can you be sure that it would not have

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<v Speaker 1>rained if you hadn't seeded the clouds? Like was the

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<v Speaker 1>cloud seeding the thing that actually made it rain or

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<v Speaker 1>was it going to rain anyway? Now, long term studies

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<v Speaker 1>suggest that cloud seating is effective, like there there have

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<v Speaker 1>been studies of snow packs over the course of several

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<v Speaker 1>years that suggests that there is greater precipitation in years

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<v Speaker 1>when cloud seeding was actually performed. But it's just, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's one of those things it's very hard to see.

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<v Speaker 1>In the short term. However, the United Arab Emirates is

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<v Speaker 1>using a slightly different approach to the typical cloud seeding approach.

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<v Speaker 1>The U A E is going to zap clouds with

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<v Speaker 1>electricity to see if that makes it rain. So they're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna be using drones to do this, and the idea

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<v Speaker 1>is to actually create an electric charge on droplets of

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<v Speaker 1>water that encourages the droplets to bind together. And as

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<v Speaker 1>these droplets bind together, they're gonna they're gonna grow larger,

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<v Speaker 1>They're gonna grow heavier and potentially heavy enough to fall

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<v Speaker 1>his rain. Assuming this all works, which actually sounds pretty

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<v Speaker 1>plausible to me at least, so I'll be very eager

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<v Speaker 1>to see how this turns out. Though I should say

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<v Speaker 1>I am a bit disappointed because I originally imagined that

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<v Speaker 1>these drones were gonna fly up there and threatened clouds

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<v Speaker 1>with electric shocks unless they would go ahead and rain

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<v Speaker 1>and to ns out, that's not how that works, so

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<v Speaker 1>that's a bummer. Finally, if you've listened to tech stuff

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<v Speaker 1>for a while, you have certainly heard me talk about

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<v Speaker 1>an electric vehicle company called Faraday Future, and not for

0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:19.200
<v Speaker 1>necessarily positive reasons. I first learned about this company when

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<v Speaker 1>I saw a concept model of an electric sports car

0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:26.440
<v Speaker 1>at C E s way back in t and that

0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:30.120
<v Speaker 1>concept looked super cool. It was one of those like,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, gasp moments when you're walking the floor. It

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<v Speaker 1>was extremely popular. Lots of people taking video and pictures

0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:40.920
<v Speaker 1>of that thing. The company was this upstart ev producer

0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:45.280
<v Speaker 1>that was taking shape in California and Nevada, and then

0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:49.360
<v Speaker 1>news about weird stuff relating to this company began to

0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:54.080
<v Speaker 1>pop up. The company founder had a different company back

0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:58.160
<v Speaker 1>in China, that's where he's from, and that company was

0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:01.640
<v Speaker 1>apparently in die or straits. It was starting to fail,

0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:06.160
<v Speaker 1>and the Chinese government was extremely eager to have this

0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:09.960
<v Speaker 1>founder come back to China and settle up with his creditors.

0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:14.120
<v Speaker 1>The founder was extremely eager to not do that thing,

0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:18.560
<v Speaker 1>because you know, answering for issues in China can sometimes

0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:23.200
<v Speaker 1>be a pretty serious thing. So he also allegedly spent

0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:25.840
<v Speaker 1>a lot of the company money as if it was

0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.320
<v Speaker 1>his own personal bank account. There were a lot of

0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:35.760
<v Speaker 1>at least perceived possible misuses of corporate funds. Things were

0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.040
<v Speaker 1>not really looking on the up and up, in other words,

0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.240
<v Speaker 1>so there were a lot of questions about whether Faraday

0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.880
<v Speaker 1>would ever be able to produce a consumer vehicle. Because

0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.240
<v Speaker 1>spoiler alert. So far it has not, and it all

0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:51.920
<v Speaker 1>got very dramatic. And now it's time to add another

0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:55.760
<v Speaker 1>bit of drama to this story because now Faraday Future

0:15:56.200 --> 0:16:00.520
<v Speaker 1>is a publicly traded company. The same organization SHAN that

0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:05.840
<v Speaker 1>was teetering on the brink of implosion is now publicly traded.

0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.560
<v Speaker 1>So you would be well justified in asking how the

0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:12.680
<v Speaker 1>heck could this happen? How could it go from almost

0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:17.160
<v Speaker 1>falling apart to becoming a publicly traded company. H And

0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:20.200
<v Speaker 1>by the way, that move of becoming publicly traded added

0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:24.960
<v Speaker 1>like a billion dollars to the company's coffers, so that

0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:30.200
<v Speaker 1>is incredibly significant. Well, it's because of a little thing

0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:34.440
<v Speaker 1>called a SPACK or sp A C. And by a

0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:38.280
<v Speaker 1>little thing, I mean a big thing. So a SPACK

0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:43.000
<v Speaker 1>is a special purpose acquisition company. And this is kind

0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:45.600
<v Speaker 1>of a work around for companies that want to go

0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:49.440
<v Speaker 1>public but would otherwise have trouble with an initial public

0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:53.160
<v Speaker 1>offering or i p O. And we've seen lots of

0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:57.440
<v Speaker 1>stories about companies that had to back off and rethink

0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.480
<v Speaker 1>their approach to an i p O, you know, like

0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:04.399
<v Speaker 1>Uber companies that at one point we're really bullish about

0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:06.520
<v Speaker 1>having an I P O. And then something happens and

0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.719
<v Speaker 1>it kind of throws a monkey wrench into the works. Well,

0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:14.800
<v Speaker 1>here's how a spack works. You get some investors and

0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:19.040
<v Speaker 1>they create a company that does nothing. It's it's like

0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:21.880
<v Speaker 1>like the old joke on Seinfeld. I mean, it literally

0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:27.600
<v Speaker 1>is a company that does nothing except exist to pool resources.

0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:31.360
<v Speaker 1>So the company that does nothing, you know, goes public

0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:37.080
<v Speaker 1>and then this newly publicly traded company uses the assets

0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:40.600
<v Speaker 1>that it has that otherwise are doing nothing to acquire

0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:43.560
<v Speaker 1>the target company, you know, the one that would not

0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:45.760
<v Speaker 1>be able to hold an I p O on its own.

0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:48.800
<v Speaker 1>So Faraday Future never would have gotten an i p

0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:51.359
<v Speaker 1>O off the ground, not not with the way the

0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.680
<v Speaker 1>company has been mismanaged and miss run for the last

0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:59.760
<v Speaker 1>several years. But by creating essentially a shell company that

0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:03.040
<v Speaker 1>then can be publicly traded and use that company to

0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:08.040
<v Speaker 1>purchase Faraday futures, that suddenly means that Faraday Future, by extension,

0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:12.439
<v Speaker 1>is publicly traded. Kind of seems like a like almost

0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:14.640
<v Speaker 1>like a bait and switch, but it's totally illegal. It's

0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:18.639
<v Speaker 1>something that can actually happen without any you know, legal

0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:24.840
<v Speaker 1>implications whatsoever. Now along the way through this process, as

0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:28.720
<v Speaker 1>this spack acquired Faraday Future and made it a publicly

0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:34.040
<v Speaker 1>traded company. The founder of Faraday Future effectively surrendered control.

0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:37.200
<v Speaker 1>So today things are very different from how they were

0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:40.080
<v Speaker 1>in years past. But does this mean that Faraday Future

0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.880
<v Speaker 1>is on track to actually produce electric vehicles after years

0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:48.680
<v Speaker 1>of languishing in a melodramatic mess of financial shenanigans. Well,

0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:51.239
<v Speaker 1>the plan is to get things up and running so

0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:56.000
<v Speaker 1>that the company can release an suv electric vehicle sometime

0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:59.960
<v Speaker 1>by the end of next year. We'll see if that happened.

0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.480
<v Speaker 1>I think some skepticism is warranted, but I would actually

0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.560
<v Speaker 1>love to see the company deliver upon that initial promise

0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.960
<v Speaker 1>I first encountered back in two thousand sixteen at c

0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:12.639
<v Speaker 1>E S. I don't want to see a company fail.

0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:17.399
<v Speaker 1>It's just, you know, my skepticism is up only because really,

0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:19.600
<v Speaker 1>if you look into the history of Faraday Future, and

0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:22.600
<v Speaker 1>I've got I've got an episode about it, a couple

0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:27.000
<v Speaker 1>of them, you start to see where there's enough history

0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:32.000
<v Speaker 1>of shenanigans going on there to make anyone feel a

0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:36.239
<v Speaker 1>little cautious. But that is it for this episode of

0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:38.960
<v Speaker 1>tech Stuff. That is the news for Thursday, July twenty

0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:42.359
<v Speaker 1>two one. I hope you are all well. If you

0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.880
<v Speaker 1>have any suggestions for topics I should cover in future

0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:47.520
<v Speaker 1>episodes of tech Stuff, please reach out to me. The

0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:50.320
<v Speaker 1>best way to do that is over on Twitter. The

0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:53.000
<v Speaker 1>handle we use for the show is tech Stuff hs

0:19:53.240 --> 0:20:00.080
<v Speaker 1>W and I'll talk to you again really soon. M

0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.600
<v Speaker 1>Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more

0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:09.040
<v Speaker 1>podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,